


breathe

by lovethybooty



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Coping, District 4, Dreams and Nightmares, Panem, Pre-Canon, Pre-Series, Song Lyrics, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 19:34:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7374640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovethybooty/pseuds/lovethybooty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>oh you're safe and sound<br/>no one can hurt you now<br/>so just breathe</p>
            </blockquote>





	breathe

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this at 2 in the morning because I felt kind of anxious. The song Breathe- where the fic gets it's title, summary, and lyrics from- really helped to calm me down. Here's a link: https://aerplane.bandcamp.com/track/breathe
> 
> Hope you all enjoy this little thing!

_breathe_

_just breathe_

_you're safe and sound_

_no one's around_

_so just breathe_

 

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Sea green eyes drift toward the window on the opposite wall in panic. Pale streams of grey and white spill in through thin curtains, offering just enough light for her to make out the shapes.

She breathes in again, looks around the room for reassurance. Just her and the bed and the old rocking chair.

No ghosts. _Ghosts aren’t real_ , she reminds herself, shakes her head.

_Am I real?_

“ _Yes_ ,” she mouths, finally letting out a soft puff of air. Her hand grabs at the loose fabric of her nightgown, clutching at her heart — the only indication that she is, in fact, alive.

 

_close your eyes_

_dance in your mind_

_fill the holes_

_with flowers and sunshine_

 

Shaky, shallow breaths escape her lips in uneven increments as she tries to calm herself. Annie closes her eyes, tries to go somewhere else.

This time there is no blood. It is just after dawn, and the sky is a dusty pink. She is on her uncle’s boat. When she looks down, she is holding a raspberry lolly in her hands, wrapped in brown paper and tied up with pink ribbon — just like when she was a little girl.

She can feel the waves rocking gently beneath her, but, this time, they are soothing. They promise to lull her to sleep rather than to rip her from it.

Annie can taste the sea salt on her tongue, smell the unpleasant but pleasantly familiar stench of fish.

It seems so real, feels so real. She doesn’t want to leave.

 

_oh_

_breathe_

_just breathe_

_you're safe and sound_

_no one's around_

_so just breathe_

 

Eyes flutter open.

The room feels different, yet she knows it is the same. Just her and the bed and the old rocking chair.

 _Morning?_ she questions, blinking a few times to fight off the fuzziness. Is it possible she was gone that long?

 _No,_ she realizes. Not morning, just lighter.

The sky is a soft grey now, with even brighter bits of moon shining in through the window.

A sigh, a shuddering breath that somehow manages to bring peace. She lowers her back against the mattress, gingerly rests her head against the pillow.

She closes her eyes again. This time it is just dark.

Annie tries to focus on breathing instead of sleeping, hopes it’ll work like counting sheep.

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

 

_oh you're safe and sound_

_no one can hurt you now_

_so just breathe_


End file.
